It doesn’t matter if it’s a full band or acoustic show, Dallas Moore is always a dynamic performer, ready to get the crowd pumped up. On Thursday, April 11 in Lee’s Summit, MO, that’s exactly what the packed house at Captain’s Sports Lounge witnessed. With this run of shows through the Midwest, Dallas is performing acoustic sets accompanied by long-time lead guitar player, Chuck Morpurgo. This was Dallas’s second appearance at Captain’s.

Opening the show was local up-and-comer, Chris Stewart, who performed a mix of originals and covers. Chris cites one of his biggest influences as Merle Haggard and enjoys covering Merle’s songs in his sets. An original favorite of Stewart’s is “From Now On.” He tells the story of the male protagonist moving on after a relationship turned sour.

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Dallas kicked his set off with several from his latest album, Mr. Honky Tonk, which most consider his greatest album to date. Moore has achieved some good chart traction and regular spins on satellite radio with the Dean Miller (son of Roger Miller) produced album. The title track is noticeably becoming a crowd favorite at shows and for simple reason: it’s honest, catchy, and relatable. “Mr. Honky Tonk” was written 20 years ago and yet the lyrics have not and will not ever go stale. Also topping the set list were “Home Is Where the Highway Is,” “Somewhere Between Bridges,” and “Shoot Out the Lights.” Clocking over 300 dates a year on the road, “Home Is Where the Highway Is” is about as real as it gets in songwriting.

With the crowd already into the show, Dallas packs a one-two punch with the upbeat favorites of “Texas Tornado” and “Raisin’ Hell and Slingin’ Gravel.” No Dallas Moore show is complete without paying homage to his idols with some of his favorite covers. With the recent loss of Earl Thomas Conley, Dallas did a heartfelt rendition of “Holding Her and Loving You” as a tribute to one of the finest voices in country music. Paying his respects to the late, great Roy Clark, Dallas set the room on fire with some impressive Roy Clark style pickin’. Dallas invited Chris Stewart to return to the stage to close the night out together with “Big City” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” before his usual send off with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Dallas encourages the crowd participation and dedicates this country music standard to his parents who have passed in recent years.

The crowd really enjoyed the new songs that Dallas was doing from his highly anticipated new album. A couple to note that Dallas shared were an original Buck Owens-style song called, “All I Need” and a Mel Street cover of “Lovin’ On the Backstreets,” which he recorded as a duet with Tommy Ash. After the show, we discussed the forthcoming album which was recorded in March at OmniSound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The new album consists of nine songs that were all cut within a remarkable two days. Moore describes it as “catching lightning in a bottle.” He chose to work with Dean Miller again and it proved to be a wise decision. The album is projected to have an August release date. Watch for an album review from The Oklahoma Reviews as the release date approaches. I look forward to catching a show later in the year on his new album release tour.

Captain’s Sports Lounge, as with many other small to medium-sized venues in the area has been featuring some great local acts as well as several regionally and nationally touring artists. This is in part due to the support of Jim and Victoria Guthrie of The Honky Tonk Hotel out of Blue Springs, Missouri. The Honky Tonk Hotel was born out of a need and a passion for independent musicians to be seen and heard in the Kansas City metro area. Many independent artists were seeming to skip right over KC on their tours. The Guthrie’s thought they would make a KC stop more appealing by offering their services. The original blueprint for The Honky Tonk Hotel was for it to be an artist outlet where they could ask for a “hand up” rather than a “hand out.” The Honky Tonk Hotel would house and feed artists traveling through the area on their own dime just to support the independent music scene in the area. Through building strong connections with local and regional venues, The Honky Tonk Hotel has been able to book over 80 acts and 200 shows throughout the Midwest just since July 2018. They have even been able to book entire Midwest tours for artists from other regions. Their reach has gone from the KC metro to Nebraska, Illinois, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, with an ever-growing demand. To help support this venture and the artists they are backing, be sure to follow them on their social media sites and attend a show they are promoting.